When deciding how much child support should be paid, there are several factors to take into account. The first and most crucial consideration is each spouse’s amount of money after taxes and other deductions. This will often determine what percentage of their income they will pay as child support.
What Is Child Support And When To Demand It?
Child support, or what others may define as child maintenance, is a regular payment that one parent makes to the other to help them take care of their children.
It can be paid for by either or both parents, even if they are not married and live together with their kids. The law requires this assistance when it comes to taking care of your children after separation from their partner if one of them earns a lot more than the other.
When to demand child support?
If you have been separated, divorced or still living together with your children’s father and he is not taking care of his financial responsibilities towards their upbringing, it may be time for you to ask him about providing some assistance in this matter as well as demanding child support.
You may ask your state’s family court for help in this case because there are specific guidelines about how much child support should be provided by each parent, depending on their income and expenses. A well-versed Annapolis divorce lawyer will be able to help you with this matter. These guidelines will also include information about how and when the support should be paid and modifications that may occur if one of the parent’s incomes changes significantly enough so they can no longer afford it.
It is essential for those who are going through a divorce or separation from their children’s father to make sure that he is meeting his financial responsibilities towards them and if not, get in touch with a divorce lawyer who will be able to help you get the child support payments by filing a petition for modification.
Types Of Child Support
Various types of child support are linked to the amount of time you spend with your kids. This categorizes into the following types of child support:
- Child Care Costs
Child care costs are what you pay to take care of your kids. They cover things like nannies, daycare, babysitters and the cost of after-school programs. If you have visitation rights for half of the time or more, these costs would be split between both parents.
- Basic Child Support
This is for the monthly costs associated with food, shelter and clothing. For example, this would include housing expenses like rent or mortgage payments and utility bills such as electricity or water services. It also covers your child’s educational needs, including school tuition and books needed to enter class every day.
- Extra-Curricular Activities
This includes the costs of sports activities, music lessons and other school-related extracurricular activities. If you have visitation rights for half of the time or more, these must be split. The exact amount will depend on how much money is spent during each month and your income levels.
- Health Insurance
If your children are covered by health insurance, then the other parent must pay for their share of this expense. This is to ensure that they can receive all necessary medical attention when needed. If you have visitation rights for half of the time or more, these costs would be split between both parents.
Surrogacy is a type of child support that covers the medical and other care costs during pregnancy. These include prenatal vitamins, maternity clothes and medications for both mommy and baby. If you have visitation rights for half of the time or more, these costs would be split between both parents.
These are just some types of child support that are available to parents with visitation rights. In addition, there is also spousal support, medical insurance and college costs if children choose not to attend a four-year university after graduation from high school.
Factors That Affects Child Support
The amount of child support you receive depends on several different factors. These include:
- The income of both parents
- How many children are involved
- Whether the child has special needs as a result of medical conditions, injuries or disabilities
In some cases, your particular situation might be taken into account as well. For example, if there was abuse during the marriage or if one of you served jail time for a crime, this would be taken into account when determining the amount of child support awarded.
The main thing to keep in mind regarding how much child support you receive is that it does not impact your visitation rights. The only exception here is if there are charges of domestic violence, sexual abuse or criminal activity involved. Otherwise, you are still entitled to see your kids even if the other parent is not making child support payments at all.
Knowing how much support you should receive is very important. You can speak to a legal professional about your particular situation if any changes might need to be made.
It’s also best to not forget the most important thing: spending time with your children and getting along as co-parents no matter what happens between you and the other parent. This is the essential part of support.
